A Villager will lose her driver’s license after sipping a Corona beer while driving her golf cart.
Patricia Ellen Swanson, 61, of the Village of Poinciana, pleaded no contest this past week in Sumter County Court to a charge of driving under the influence. She will lose her driver’s license for six months, has been placed on probation for one year and has been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.
She was in a white golf cart shortly before 11 p.m. Aug. 25 parked on the side of the road pointed in the wrong direction in the area of Odell Circle and Buena Vista Boulevard, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The Mason City, Iowa native said she had been at a friend’s house and admitted she’d consumed one glass of wine and one beer. Swanson agreed to participate in field sobriety exercises, but midway into the exercises, she asked about having a lawyer present. She declined to continue the exercises. She also refused to provide a breath sample. The deputy spotted a large thermal cup in the cup holder of Swanson’s golf cart. The deputy identified the beverage in the cup as Corona beer. Swanson was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and ticketed for open container and driving on the wrong side of the road.
